Another Highlighted Night....

April 7, 2006

Tonight was pretty cool. I went out for a bit with some volunteers to a chicken restaurant then to Pamandas…it was pay day so we all had some money. This chicken restaurant was awesome. In the States, we would call it a hole in the wall, but it was absolutely amazing. The chicken was cooked over a fire but I wouldn’t go as far as saying it was rotisseried. Their fries put Bojangles’ fries to shame almost…that takes a lot for me to say. I ended up splitting a whole chicken and fries with two other people and it came out to 4,000 CFA, which is like $7 for it all. Unfortunately, it is bad to think of money in U.S. terms here. Afterwards, I went to Pamandas to meet up with some other trainees for a few minutes before heading home.

I saw the presidential motorcade also, which was really neat. I don’t know if President Wade was in Thies tonight or was just passing through, but all of a sudden police motorcycles drive drove by followed by a long convoy of Ford Expeditions, a limo, police cars, ambulance, and other vehicles. The convoy definitely moved a lot faster than typical traffic in Thies. It was really weird because it just happened. It wasn’t like in the States where streets are shut down for the presidential motorcade.

After I got home tonight, I heard a lot of wolof screaming in the courtyard. I didn’t know what was going on, but one of my sisters drug me outside to watch some of my brothers beat the crap out of a snake that was in the courtyard. Chairs were taken apart and the pieces were thrown at it. It was nuts. It was pretty much like a scene from Jerry Springer. Finally, the snake was killed. It wasn’t huge nor poisonous, but don’t know what type it was. I’m not a big fan of snakes at all, so I’m glad it got the ax. I got a picture of it, so hopefully I’ll get it up soon.

The last thing I will say, before going to bed, is about the probability of getting in a taxi accident. I’ve come to realize that if I don’t feel like I’m going to die at least four or five in a cab ride in Thies, then, it just isn’t a normal ride. Sadly, some of us are thinking about making bets on how many cab accidents we will get in. One trainee has already been in one. Luckily, the cabs don’t go very fast, and by very fast, I mean they stall in the middle of intersections a lot.

I’m off to bed. Hopefully everyone enjoys reading this site. If you ever have any questions or suggestions, let me know. If one of your suggestions is for me to fix my grammatical mistakes, I’m sorry, its not going to happen…I just haven’t felt like rereading everything and I’d rather go to bed, like right now.